Just 10 days shy of a year since a tropical storm remnant inundated the ball fields at Golden Eagle Park in 2018, it happened again on Monday morning this week.

More than two inches of rain fell in the center of Fountain Hills over a three-hour period beginning around 6 a.m. on Sept. 23. Water rushing down washes flowed again up to the dam in Golden Eagle Park where it backed up. Ball fields that had to be restored after last year’s flooding were once again under water, as much as three to four feet along the outfield fences closest to the dam. By about 5 p.m. much of the water had drained out and there appeared to be little debris, but there was no damage assessment. More rain late Monday dumped an additional inch or more of rain on the wash watershed.

Town Manager Grady Miller said it will be a process for the town to assess damage at the park. He said the dam is doing its job with moving water through it on the outflow side. There does not appear to be any obstruction blocking the flow.

Public Works Director Justin Weldy said the dam is working as it should as a flood detention dam, which is part of the overall flood control system for Fountain Hills. Much of Golden Eagle Park is designed as a detention basin for flood water. The ball fields provide the open space to hold the excess water. Until last year the system had not had a real test at the park. Weldy added that berms added after last year’s storm were working to direct the flow of water in the washes.

Weldy was also busy organizing the streets staff to clean up debris from a number of locations around town. Miller said the town had received a number of calls from residents about street flooding, some of which had reached the interior of homes.

“This was an unusual non-stop, hard rain for a couple of hours,” Miller said. “Many residents don’t understand there are several detention dams in town designed to handle storms like this.”

The remains of a Pacific hurricane Lenore moved up the Baja gulf over the weekend pushing moisture into Arizona, triggering the storm. More than 3-inches of rain fell in Fountain Hills through Monday evening. There was 3.82 inches collected at a Flood Control District monitoring site at Stone Ridge Dam, just west of Fountain Hills Blvd. where several washes come together to form Colony Wash. At Sunridge Dam on the SunRidge Canyon Golf Course there was 3.15 inches recorded, North Heights received 3.03 inches and another 2.80 inches was collected at the Adero Canyon Trailhead at the top of Cloudburst Wash. Those three sites receive rainfall that flows down into the basin behind Golden Eagle Dam.

Elsewhere in town Fountain Park received 3.5 inches of rain from the storm and 3.11 fell at Fire Station #1 on Palisades Boulevard. A rain gauge outside The Times office on Laser Drive collected 2.5 inches.

Also around town during the storm there were unconfirmed reports of residential flooding along Ashbrook Drive and in the area near El Pueblo and Grande boulevards. Also, there was a report of flooding at the Fountain View Village senior living community. A motorist was trapped by debris on El Pueblo Blvd. at Ashbrook Wash. An occupant was assisted from the vehicle by Fort McDowell Fire Chief Mark Openshaw.

Town officials have closed Kiwanis Drive between Saguaro and El Lago boulevards due to pavement damage.